The whole month of September we have been talking about respect with our students. As one mom said that is the theme of your school all of the time, but this month we focused in more detail on that subject. One of the definitions we used was, “showing appreciation for the value in ourselves and in others.” This is one of the keys to protecting ourselves young or old from being the victim of a bully.
How do we show that we respect ourselves? We need to demonstrate physically, mentally and emotionally that we value ourselves.
How do we carry ourselves physically? Do we walk standing tall, or do we find ourselves looking down with our shoulders slumped in a curve? If we find that we or our child is one that sinks or shrinks when in the face of others it is time to practice this standing tall. Shoulders back, head looking up, not afraid to look in the eye of others, oh and smile.
I am not sure which one comes first, if we have to feel good about ourselves before we can demonstrate it physically or if we play out the role first and then we start feeling good about ourselves. But sometimes I know that we have to fake it till we make it. Try the physical and practice it even in the face of those we may normally shrink in front of and soon you will start to feel it on the inside too.
